“The world and everything in it is unplanned accident, existence is meaningless; the past is irrelevant; nothing matters.”
CLOSING STATEMENT:
Today, we have represented the Dragon and Grendel in order to prove that the world and everything in it is an unplanned accident, existence is meaningless; the past is irrelevant; and lastly, that nothing matters. Now, let me remind of you some of the key points we have presented today.
Although many people may put a lot of emphasis on the past and believe it to be extremely significant, we believe that the past is, on the other hand, irrelevant. The Dragon has given us the testimony with the example of how knowledge of the past affects nothing. His very words from page 63 is that "if you with your knowledge of present and past recall that a certain man slipped on, say, a banana peel, or fell off his chair, or drowned in a river, that recollection does not mean that you caused him to slip, or fall, or drown.... knowledge is not cause." Can we deny this fact? No, we cannot. Knowing about the past cannot change what happened at that moment. Since it cannot change what happened at that moment, what use is there for knowledge of the past? It is similar to when the Dragon says,”My knowledge of the future does not cause the future.” This applies to the past too. Knowing about the past cannot make a big difference in our lives and is therefore irrelevant.
Secondly, this all ties in with our next point that existence is meaningless. Once again on page 62 and 63, the Dragon talks about his vast knowledge of time. He has seen the beginning, the present, and the future, and therefore knows everything. Because time is just so vast, existence of men spans an extremely short period in comparison. Dragon sees no use for all the things that men do. He sees little point in religion, poetry, or any of the other things that men invented to make their lives more important and meaningful. For him, a human's life seems to end as soon as it begins.
Lastly, we believe that nothing matters in life. According to Grendel on page 21-22: "I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back." While the bull is attacking him during chapter 2, Grendel realizes that the bull doesn't change its tactics and is just mindlessly hitting the same place over and over. Grendel now began to perceive the world like the bull: mindless and destructive without any plan or reason.
UNPLANNED ACCIDENT: At the end of the book, Beowulf dies trying to slay the dragon. He thought that he was being a hero and thought that he had saved his people. However, instead of saving his people, he has left them in an even worse state. The treasure Beowulf captured turns out to be worthless and now, his people are most definitely certain to die since the only reason the Swedes hadn't attacked was due to Beowulf's strength and wisdom. Did Beowulf plan to leave his people in such a state? I think not. EXISTENCE IS MEANINGLESS/NOTHING MATTERS: This example can also support the other statements. In his lifetime, Beowulf did all sorts of heroic things and made the world a better place. However, at the end, the only person who helps him in his time of need was Wiglaf while the others had just run away. He is killed and he can't understand why. He dies deluded, thinking that he has saved his people when, in fact, he left them worse off. Beowulf's end also supports the dragon's statement that existence is meaningless and that nothing matters. Beowulf strived for heroism in his lifetime, and he did achieve fame. However, once he was dead, does it really mean anything? Yes, his legacy lives on. But now, his life is over and he doesn’t really get to experience how everyone still remembers him. PAST IS IRRELEVENT: During the peak of his heroism, Beowulf escaped death narrowly many times and accomplished feats like killing both Grendel and his mother. However, all the times he eluded death came to no use at his final fight with the dragon.
CROSS EXAMINATION QUESTIONS:
1. What were your intentions when you set out to kill the dragon, meaning why did you go kill the dragon?
2. Did you plan to leave your people like that, in danger from the Swedes? Did you know that killing the dragon would have negative effects on your people? Would you agree that this was unplanned? That it was an accident?
3.Beowulf, you would agree that you have escaped death many times, right? That you strived for heroism and accomplished many feats?
4. However, can you honestly, truly agree that any of these past experiences help you at this last fight with the dragon? I don’t think so, since you died.
OUTLINE
1. First off, I am going to support the statement that everything in this world is an unplanned accident.
In pages 168 to 172, Grendel begins fighting with Beowulf. According to Grendel in page 171, Beowulf's victory was not something that was meant to happen.
"If you win, it's by mindless chance. Make no mistake. First you tricked me, and then I slipped. Accident."
Grendel accidentally slipped on the human blood, which is an unplanned accident. Grendel would have never meant that to happen. The world is just simply chaotic. This can be proven by the time when Grendel encountered the bull. This will be explained more thoroughly in the last point.
2. Existence is meaningless
On page 62 and 63, the Dragon talks about his vast knowledge of time. He can see the beginning, the present, and the end, and therefore knows everything.
And since the existence of man spans such little time, Dragon sees no use for all the things that men do. He sees little point in religion, poetry, or any of the other things that men invented to make their lives more important and meaningful.
3. Past is irrelevant
Page 63: the Dragon states "If you with your knowledge of present and past recall that a certain man slipped on, say, a banana peel, or fell off his chair, or drowned in a river, that recollection does not mean that you caused him to slip, or fall, or drown.... knowledge is not cause."
So according to the Dragon, knowing about the past does not affect what had happened at that moment and does not make a big difference in life.
4. Nothing matters
Page 21-22: "I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back."
While the bull is attacking him during chapter 2, Grendel realizes that the bull doesn't change its tactics and is just mindlessly hitting the same place over and over. Grendel now began to perceive the world like the bull: mindless and destructive without any plan or reason.
LETTER REFLECTION:
By reading John Gardner's letter, I learned a lot more about Grendel. When I was reading and annotating Grendel, there were numerous topics that I didn't fully understand. However, in this letter, Gardner explains his ideas and exactly what his characters mean. He also talked about the ending of Beowulf in a way that has helped me to come up with ideas for my statement. When Gardner discusses the ending of Beowulf, I felt as if Beowulf who we had all thought to be wise and all that as foolish, and his end seemed a perfect example for all of dragon's ideas. This letter just really helped me to understand both Grendel and the Dragon, and that was really essential to improving my statement.
CLOSING STATEMENT:
Today, we have represented the Dragon and Grendel in order to prove that the world and everything in it is an unplanned accident, existence is meaningless; the past is irrelevant; and lastly, that nothing matters. Now, let me remind of you some of the key points we have presented today.
Although many people may put a lot of emphasis on the past and believe it to be extremely significant, we believe that the past is, on the other hand, irrelevant. The Dragon has given us the testimony with the example of how knowledge of the past affects nothing. His very words from page 63 is that "if you with your knowledge of present and past recall that a certain man slipped on, say, a banana peel, or fell off his chair, or drowned in a river, that recollection does not mean that you caused him to slip, or fall, or drown.... knowledge is not cause." Can we deny this fact? No, we cannot. Knowing about the past cannot change what happened at that moment. Since it cannot change what happened at that moment, what use is there for knowledge of the past? It is similar to when the Dragon says,”My knowledge of the future does not cause the future.” This applies to the past too. Knowing about the past cannot make a big difference in our lives and is therefore irrelevant.
Secondly, this all ties in with our next point that existence is meaningless. Once again on page 62 and 63, the Dragon talks about his vast knowledge of time. He has seen the beginning, the present, and the future, and therefore knows everything. Because time is just so vast, existence of men spans an extremely short period in comparison. Dragon sees no use for all the things that men do. He sees little point in religion, poetry, or any of the other things that men invented to make their lives more important and meaningful. For him, a human's life seems to end as soon as it begins.
Lastly, we believe that nothing matters in life. According to Grendel on page 21-22: "I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back." While the bull is attacking him during chapter 2, Grendel realizes that the bull doesn't change its tactics and is just mindlessly hitting the same place over and over. Grendel now began to perceive the world like the bull: mindless and destructive without any plan or reason.
UNPLANNED ACCIDENT: At the end of the book, Beowulf dies trying to slay the dragon. He thought that he was being a hero and thought that he had saved his people. However, instead of saving his people, he has left them in an even worse state. The treasure Beowulf captured turns out to be worthless and now, his people are most definitely certain to die since the only reason the Swedes hadn't attacked was due to Beowulf's strength and wisdom. Did Beowulf plan to leave his people in such a state? I think not.
EXISTENCE IS MEANINGLESS/NOTHING MATTERS: This example can also support the other statements. In his lifetime, Beowulf did all sorts of heroic things and made the world a better place. However, at the end, the only person who helps him in his time of need was Wiglaf while the others had just run away. He is killed and he can't understand why. He dies deluded, thinking that he has saved his people when, in fact, he left them worse off. Beowulf's end also supports the dragon's statement that existence is meaningless and that nothing matters. Beowulf strived for heroism in his lifetime, and he did achieve fame. However, once he was dead, does it really mean anything? Yes, his legacy lives on. But now, his life is over and he doesn’t really get to experience how everyone still remembers him.
PAST IS IRRELEVENT: During the peak of his heroism, Beowulf escaped death narrowly many times and accomplished feats like killing both Grendel and his mother. However, all the times he eluded death came to no use at his final fight with the dragon.
CROSS EXAMINATION QUESTIONS:
1. What were your intentions when you set out to kill the dragon, meaning why did you go kill the dragon?
2. Did you plan to leave your people like that, in danger from the Swedes? Did you know that killing the dragon would have negative effects on your people? Would you agree that this was unplanned? That it was an accident?
3. Beowulf, you would agree that you have escaped death many times, right? That you strived for heroism and accomplished many feats?
4. However, can you honestly, truly agree that any of these past experiences help you at this last fight with the dragon? I don’t think so, since you died.
OUTLINE
1. First off, I am going to support the statement that everything in this world is an unplanned accident.In pages 168 to 172, Grendel begins fighting with Beowulf. According to Grendel in page 171, Beowulf's victory was not something that was meant to happen.
"If you win, it's by mindless chance. Make no mistake. First you tricked me, and then I slipped. Accident."
Grendel accidentally slipped on the human blood, which is an unplanned accident. Grendel would have never meant that to happen. The world is just simply chaotic. This can be proven by the time when Grendel encountered the bull. This will be explained more thoroughly in the last point.
2. Existence is meaningless
On page 62 and 63, the Dragon talks about his vast knowledge of time. He can see the beginning, the present, and the end, and therefore knows everything.
And since the existence of man spans such little time, Dragon sees no use for all the things that men do. He sees little point in religion, poetry, or any of the other things that men invented to make their lives more important and meaningful.
3. Past is irrelevant
Page 63: the Dragon states "If you with your knowledge of present and past recall that a certain man slipped on, say, a banana peel, or fell off his chair, or drowned in a river, that recollection does not mean that you caused him to slip, or fall, or drown.... knowledge is not cause."
So according to the Dragon, knowing about the past does not affect what had happened at that moment and does not make a big difference in life.
4. Nothing matters
Page 21-22: "I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back."
While the bull is attacking him during chapter 2, Grendel realizes that the bull doesn't change its tactics and is just mindlessly hitting the same place over and over. Grendel now began to perceive the world like the bull: mindless and destructive without any plan or reason.
LETTER REFLECTION:
By reading John Gardner's letter, I learned a lot more about Grendel. When I was reading and annotating Grendel, there were numerous topics that I didn't fully understand. However, in this letter, Gardner explains his ideas and exactly what his characters mean. He also talked about the ending of Beowulf in a way that has helped me to come up with ideas for my statement. When Gardner discusses the ending of Beowulf, I felt as if Beowulf who we had all thought to be wise and all that as foolish, and his end seemed a perfect example for all of dragon's ideas. This letter just really helped me to understand both Grendel and the Dragon, and that was really essential to improving my statement.